Abstract
There are many arguments about whether surgical resection or drug therapy is better for pulmonary metastasis after breast cancer surgery. We investigated the therapeutic outcome of patients with pulmonary metastasis from breast cancer at our institution. Between January 1999 and September 2012, nine patients underwent metastatectomy for metastatic breast cancer. Seven cases were isolated nodules, and the possibility of primary lung cancer in four cases was in doubt prior to the operation based on chest CTs. The median disease-free interval (DFI) was 5.4 years (1.1∼12.6), the median survival time was 61.6 months, and the the 5-year overall survival rate was 72.9% after metastasectomy. Long-term survivors were seen in cases that had a long DFI. Drug changes were effective in patients where a receptor change was seen after drug therapy. When recurrence occurred, drug resistance was doubted, and surgical resection is useful for the purpose of the reevaluation of the receptor.
